Messaging is one area in which Windows Phone 8 really excels. Whereas many cellphones limit you to connecting to a single email account, Windows Phone 8 supports simultaneous connectivity to a virtually unlimited number of mailboxes. Furthermore, the phone offers native support for Microsoft Live, Office 365, Exchange Server, Yahoo!, and Gmail. Of course, you also have the option of connecting to just about any mail server using POP3 or IMAP4.

Accessing Email Settings and Configuring Accounts

This chapter guides you through the process of setting up different types of email accounts. All of the accounts types are configured through the phone’s Email+Accounts screen, which is accessible by going to the Apps List (swipe left from the Start screen), opening the Settings page, and tapping Email+Accounts.

From here, you can set up a Microsoft account or a variety of email account types, which I cover in the following sections.

Microsoft Accounts

Although the use of a Microsoft account is optional, you can only get the full benefit of using your device if you use a Microsoft account. Microsoft accounts provide access to Hotmail, SkyDrive, Xbox, and Xbox Live, and they are also used for phone backups, phone location services, and even social networking.

Connecting Your Microsoft Account

Regardless of whether you use Microsoft’s Outlook.com email service (or Live or Hotmail), you should configure your phone to use a Microsoft account. Microsoft accounts are required for using a number of the phone’s features, such as backups and Find My Phone. You can link the phone to your existing Microsoft account by going to the Settings Email+Accounts screen and completing these steps:

Depending on how you have used your Microsoft account in the past, you might find that Windows Phone 8 automatically sets up other types of accounts on your behalf. For example, when I provisioned my Windows 8 phone with my Microsoft account, the phone automatically set up Twitter and LinkedIn because those accounts were cross-referenced with my Microsoft account.

Setting Up a Microsoft Account

If you don’t have a Microsoft account, you can easily create one for free. To do so, go to http://login.live.com and click the Sign Up Now link.

Setting Up Exchange Email

As you probably expect, Windows Phone 8 has the capability to connect to Microsoft Exchange Server using ActiveSync. Microsoft provides two different methods for connecting to Exchange Server. The first method is a simplified method that works only with Exchange Server 2007, 2010, and 2013. The second method is a little more advanced and is used for connecting to older Exchange Servers or attaching to Exchange Servers that do not fully support automatic configuration.

What Is Microsoft Exchange?

Microsoft Exchange is Microsoft’s email messaging server and is commonly used in corporate environments. If you are attempting to connect your Windows Phone 8 to a corporate email account, there is a good chance that you will need to follow the instructions for Exchange Server connectivity.

Simplified Exchange Server Connectivity

If you have an Exchange Server 2007, 2010, or 2013 that supports automatic configuration for external clients, you can use the simplified connectivity method. To connect to your Exchange mailbox, go to the Email+Accounts screen, tap Add an Account, and complete the following steps:

Advanced Exchange Server Connectivity

The connectivity can be used only for connecting to a supported version of Exchange and only if the Exchange Server organization is configured to support automatic configuration. To use Exchange Server connectivity, go to the Email+Accounts screen, tap Add an Account, and follow these steps:

You might discover that, even after performing an advanced setup, Windows Phone 8 cannot connect to Exchange Server. If this happens, verify that you have correctly spelled the fully qualified domain name of your Client Access Server and that the server is externally accessible using this name. In some cases, you might have to use the server’s IP address instead of its name.

The other thing that tends to go wrong is that Windows Phone 8 might have trouble using SSL encryption. Exchange Server uses a certificate to perform SSL encryption. For Windows Phone 8 to be capable of using SSL encryption, the phone must trust the certificate authority (CA) that issued the certificate to Exchange. This is accomplished by using something called a CA certificate. Windows Phone 8 has built-in CA certificates for the most popular commercial certificate authorities. However, if your company uses a certificate that was generated in-house or by a lesser-known commercial certificate authority, the phone will not automatically trust the certificate authority, and SSL encryption will fail (which causes ActiveSync to fail).

The solution to this problem is to set up another mail account (such as a Yahoo! account or a Gmail account) and configure your phone to access it. Next, ask your network administrator to email the required CA certificate to the account that you have just set up. When you receive the message, open the attachment; the certificate will be installed on your phone. You should now be able to sync with Exchange Server.

One last problem that you might encounter is that mail might not synchronize even if everything is set up correctly. This can happen if you have told Windows Phone 8 to synchronize messages from the last 7 days, but all the messages in your Inbox are more than 7 days old.

Connecting to Yahoo! Mail

Windows Phone 8 includes native support for Yahoo! Mail. To link the phone to your Yahoo! account, go to the Email+Accounts screen and complete these steps:

Setting Up POP3/IMAP4 Messaging

If you need to connect Windows Phone 8 to a mail system other than Microsoft, Exchange Server, Yahoo!, or Gmail, you can do so by using a POP3/IMAP4 account. To establish connectivity to your mail server, go to the Email+Accounts screen and perform the following steps:

Type your username. You can enter your username as a name (BrienP), an email address (BrienP@BrienPosey.com), or a Universal Naming Convention (BrienPosey\Brien). Universal Naming Conventions use log-in names in domain\username format.

If the outgoing server requires authentication, select the Outgoing Server Requires Authentication check box and the Use the Same User Name and Password For Sending Mail check box.

Depending on your mail server’s configuration, you might need to enable SSL encryption. If so, tap the Advanced Settings button and then select both the Require SSL for Incoming Mail and the Require SSL for Outgoing Mail check boxes.

The Advanced Settings screen can be used to control how frequently Windows checks for new mail. The default option is to check for new mail every two hours. Checking more frequently can impact battery life and can also result in higher cellular bills if you do not have an unlimited data plan.

The Advanced Settings screen offers an option to control how much mail history is stored on the phone. By default, all mail from the last two weeks is stored on the phone, but you can store more or less mail as your needs dictate. This option affects only the phone’s storage, not your actual mailbox.

Removing Mail Accounts

If you no longer need mobile access to a mail account, you can easily remove the account without affecting any of the other mail accounts that might be set up on the phone. To remove a mail account, go to the Email+Accounts screen and complete these steps:

When you tap and hold an email account, the menu displays an option to delete the account, but you also see a Sync option. Tapping Sync synchronizes your phone with the mailbox and downloads the most recent messages.

>>>Go Further: To Remove Accounts, Reset

Because Microsoft accounts are used for more than just email access, Windows Phone 8 does not allow you to remove them in the manner described here. If you want to remove a Microsoft account, you must reset the phone to its factory defaults, as described in Chapter 1.